Anti Product Activation Pledge

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

I will not produce or sell software that requires Internet or telephone product activation. I will not buy software that requires product activation if a reasonable substitute is available. Where a reasonable substitute is not available I will continue to use an older version of the product for as long as possible before buying a newer version that has product activation.

[BigBelly]

Second that. (i even registered so i could agree)

[Gyrene]

Major, what product has required phone registration? I agree its a lousy idea.

I'm also against software that automatically registers you the next time your internet connection is up, if I don't want to register (And get all the spam that usually goes with it) I shouldn't have to register.

My TV set or VCR didn't force me to register for them to work.

Gyrene

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

> Major, what product has required phone registration?

"Product Activation" is the name of Microsoft's new license enforcement mechanism for consumer level users of Microsoft products (applications and operating systems). This mechanism is now in effect for most new Microsoft consumer level products and upgrades. After you purchase a Microsoft product it must be activated by Internet or telephone voice contact with Microsoft before you are allowed to have full use of your purchase. Certain business users are allowed to obtain Microsoft products without Product Activation.

During installation and activation the Microsoft software examines your hardware configuration and produces a "hash" value based on what it finds. That value is then embedded somewhere on your computer and it is also eventually transmitted to Microsoft. That information is then used in the future to control whether the program or operating system works or not on your computer. It may or may not be true that the software also must contact Microsoft periodically via the Internet as an additional enforcement check.

If you replace or reformat your hard drive or make certain other undefined changes to the hardware configuration of your computer then the hash value will no longer match and all of your Microsoft software will have to be reactivated via a new contact with Microsoft. Microsoft says that the reactivation with be virtually instantaneous for Internet users and should not take more than six minutes if telephone voice contact is required.

My main problem with this is the concern that the rest of the software industry may adopt this approach - particularly the average company which is far less stable and far less able to provide support than Microsoft. It may only be a minor inconvenience for me to cope with Microsoft Product Activation (mainly by buying other products whenever possible). It will not be minor at all if over the course of a year or two the rest of the software industry also adopts Product Activation.

Although Microsoft may be around for a long time yet, other software companies come and go. Product titles often get passed to companies who will not support versions of that title put out by an earlier company. More companies than not refuse to support products or product versions that are older than a year or so. If product activation becomes the norm, once a few years have passed moving up to a new computer or installing new components in an old one or recovering from a major system crash is going to cost people the use and value of every "Product Activation" program that is no longer supported by its manufacturer.